


Another Letter

by fourredfruits



Series: Silence and Letters [2]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-14
Updated: 2019-03-14
Packaged: 2019-11-18 02:50:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,472
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18111737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fourredfruits/pseuds/fourredfruits
Summary: Five writes to Vanya across time.





	Another Letter

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry for tons of typos and errors. I haven't slept. And thanks for your comments and kudos! I really appreciate them!

The words had long been there when she moved in. Vanya found them about a week after. They were etched on the wall beside the bedroom window and she saw them for the first time when she sat on the windowsill with a book in her hand.

The apartment was old and it seemed like the job was done a long time ago. The edges looked worn down. The letters were small and delicate as if handwritten by a kid but it couldn't have been a kid since whoever must have done it used a very sharp tool and was strong enough to carve out words skillfully on the cement wall.

She had to look very closely to make out the words which read,

_You are my home_

Odd words to find where she still did not feel entirely home yet. She sometimes wondered if she even knew what home felt like. But maybe this was the place welcoming her in its own way. She spent that afternoon by the window reading, drinking coffee and feeling slightly better.

 

 

Five explained to her his equations and theories on travelling through time a few days before he disappeared. She did not understand most of it and he knew that.

"Why are you telling me this?"  
"Because you are ordinary."

He raised an eyebrow like it made sense. She would have hated it if it was anybody else but whenever he said the word 'ordinary', he said it like it was her superpower not an adjective that was ascribed to a worthless experiment subject.

"And because I think you are the only one who would care if something happened to me."

Nevertheless, she rolled her eyes and said, "You don't need to remind me how special all of you are."

The tip of his mouth turned up ever so slightly.

"You are special though."  
"Not according to Dad or the public."  
"Don't let him get to your head, Vanya. You know it's not power that makes people special,"

It was not something people would expect him to say but he said things like that from time to time, surprising her.

Five smirked, "And after all, how extraordinary is it to stay ordinary and normal in a house of freaks?"

Contrary to what people thought, Five did not constantly talk when they were alone. He was actually a surprisingly good listener which was one thing Vanya loved about him. That evening, however, he talked more than usual.

"Are you going to do it?"

His eyes shone under the flickering lamp light.

"Maybe."  
"But you have to stop if anything feels strange."  
"I will."  
"Promise?"

The room was dark because she did not want to chance getting caught by Dad but the moonlight poured through the window onto the dusty floor of their hideout and it was more than enough.

"I will come back."  
"Will you? You don't even like it here."  
"But I come back anyway, right? I could have left anytime if that was what I wanted."  
"Why?"  
"Maybe I like it here,"

When she stared at him silently, he simply shrugged and said, "or because this is my home."

 

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

  
Although the humanity was completely wiped out, there were still books, documents and newpapers which survived the end of the world. Those fragile sheets of paper outlasted their creator once more. Thanks to them, Five could keep insanity at bay and learn a few things about what would happen -or had happened- to his siblings during the years before.

The information did not surprise him much. He was probably more surprised by the fact that people could change so little. He knew Vanya had secretly hoped that adulthood would cure whatever was wrong with them. It apparently was not what happened.

He could never figure out what had caused the apocalypse though. He only knew that it happened suddenly and no one saw it coming, maybe except for his brothers and sister. They were all together in one place when it happened which could simply mean a family gathering but- who was he kidding, the Hargreeves didn't do family gatherings. It had to be something grave like their father's death or the apocalypse. In this case, both turned out to be true.

Vanya's book which had been published a couple of years before couldn't tell him much either.

He read it several times even after he found everything he could though. He watched her and everyone else through her words. He watched them leave one by one. He always thought Vanya would be the first to leave if given the chance but she didn't.

 

> _I woke up to the quietness of the house one morning. Although my father and I still lived under the same roof, I barely saw him. It was like living with a ghost. Luther was out of town on a mission......_  
>  _......I felt exhausted and the feeling was not something temporary. It had become a part of myself......._  
>  _......I turned on the strangely heavy door knob of Five's room. It had been years since the last time I was in here. Everything looked exactly the same down to the stack of books at the foot of his bed._

  
Whenever he thought of something that could help him get back home, he scribbled down on the book.

Then one day, the real chance -a devil disguised as a devil- came and he of course seized it. He jumped through time and eliminated targets. They appreciated his efficiency.

He did not like killing and hated his job but luckily, when you could travel through space and time, the reality did not matter much. You could always change it one way or another. There still were consequences of messing with a timeline. Time machines and trained assassins were not the answer to everything. Some things were tougher to fix and most of the agents ended up dead or insane or both. People often fooled themselves into thinking that time was harmless, the greatest illusion ever to be told. Time was never a docile pet of the humanity. It fought back and it was viscious and tremendous.

Anyway, he planned everything carefully. Time was not his enemy here although it did lock him up in that hell for decades until he became old and grey. So it was alright if he wasted a few more years getting back. No one would really share those years he spent floating in and out of time. He'd be the only one who had lived and aged through them.

But there were times when knowing that wasn't actually enough and he almost felt like- similar to the feeling of time running out?- he was making someone wait too much, someone whom he did not want to keep waiting. That's why after his eleventh mission, he finally decided to visit Vanya's apartment. He already knew the address by heart. It was December, 1999 and the place was newly built.

He could have gone to her who must be having a quite impressively disappointing childhood back at the mansion but didn't. He was with her then. He didn't want to ruin it for the sake of both of them.

It was late and dark when he left the motel. Taking a walk on the empty and quiet street did not sound so bad but unfortunately, he only had a few hours. He had to pack and leave soon. So he took the short cut. One minute, his shoes were touching asphalt and the next moment, they trudged on the plush carpet on the hall. He picked the lock easily and let himself in.

Five looked around the yet to be occupied room and nodded to himself approvingly. It wasn't spacious or luxurious but he could imagine his sister here. He sauntered towards the small bedroom which had a big and nice window and he thought, it would be Vanya's favorite spot after some twenty years, wouldn't it? A beautiful window. She had always said she wished the window in her room would be bigger.

 

> _......We promised each other but I wasn't sure who broke it first. I wasn't even sure if I could remember what we had promised......_

He stood and stared outside, watching nothing in particular.

 

> _......He called it home and I could not......_

He pulled out his knife and flicked it back and forth between his fingers.

He had promised her that he would come home. He hadn't mean to burden her with it. People he had killed in cold blood might find it funny how much the thought made him feel guilty -and now he felt more guilty-.

He only ever wanted her to be happy. He could have written a book about it if he was more like Vanya but he only wrote,

  
_You are my home_

 


End file.
